California Philharmonic transitions to new ownership after foundation declares bankruptcy

After struggling financially last year, the California Philharmonic Foundation has filed for bankruptcy and has handed over ownership and operations of the CalPhil orchestra to local events firm Pasadena Entertainment.

Andre Vener, a former CalPhil Foundation board member and partner at Pasadena Entertainment, said the change will strengthen the orchestra behind the scenes while maintaining the show the public is accustomed to seeing.

“I feel everything is really going to go up a level,“ said Vener, who was CEO and president of CalPhil for 10 years. “The musicians are happy and treated well, and I think when you treat your staff and musicians and venues right, it’s naturally a fun place and it comes back your way. The cloud has been removed.”

The foundation came under scrutiny last year when the musicians’ union, the American Federation of Musicians Local 47, filed an unfair labor practices charge alleging the nonprofit owed about $2,000 to each of its 60 musicians. The foundation also owed at least $11,000 for the final two concerts it held at the Los Angeles County Arboretum in 2011.

The CalPhil moved to Santa Anita Park for the 2012 season after the Arboretum replaced its summer lineup with the Pasadena POPS.

Vener, whose father Victor Vener founded the orchestra 20 years ago, said Pasadena Entertainment has already worked with CalPhil for six years, but now it will take the lead roll in running it. He said he thinks the for-profit company, which works through venues including redwhite+bluezz, The Rose Bowl and Castle Green, will have more success financially because it already has a foundation in the entertainment business.

He said the company’s first step in acquiring CalPhil was to pay off all the foundation’s debts.

“The California Philharmonic is strong and stable, with happy venues, unions and musicians,” Vener said, adding that Santa Anita Park and the Walt Disney Concert Hall have approved the orchestra for the 2014 summer season.

John Acosta, vice president of the American Federation of Musicians Local 47, said in a statement that the musicians union is happy with the ownership transition.

Acosta declined to comment further Thursday.

“AFM, Local 47 is pleased to announce that all back wages owed to California Philharmonic musicians for services rendered have been paid,” Acosta said in a press release. “Pasadena Entertainment has stepped up to take on the proud tradition of California Philharmonic, providing summer concerts in Los Angeles County. Local 47 and its new partner Pasadena Entertainment look forward to a long and successful relationship.”

Ultimately, the CalPhil’s transition will mean more music entertainment in Pasadena, which Executive Director of the Pasadena Arts Council Terry LeMoncheck said is always a good thing.

“They joined the ranks of many fine symphony orchestras and other music organizations of high repute who have been struggling or who have declared bankruptcy or who have gone on hiatus because it is just so incredibly tough out there right now,” LeMoncheck said. “To be able to survive, it says something.”